The Pass
by Sela McGrane
Summary: Hermione hadn't seen Minerva McGonagall in three years, but was thrilled to be sitting in her classroom once again. The woman she'd known at Hogwarts was a bit different than the one she was meeting now, however.
1. Chapter 1

**I honestly don't know if I'm going to take this further or not. This opening scene came to me last night while I was trying to sleep (GURR when that happens). I'll put some thought into where this might go. For the moment, it's a bit of fluff for you to enjoy.**

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Hermione Granger slid into her seat with a huff. She was at Muggle University for summer courses, at the insistence of her parents, who had asked that she make more of an effort to be a part of their world, as they'd always been supportive of hers. In mum and dad terms, that meant a muggle degree of some sort. As she was busy with her Potions Mastery program during the school year, summer was really the only time she had to work towards that end.

Today was the first class, and she was only in _World History 101_ per someone else backing out at the last minute. Still, a friend of hers was in this class as well, so she wouldn't be alone. "Hey Emma," Hermione whispered, nudging the mocha skinned girl beside her.

"Didn't know you were taking this class," Emma replied. "Though the company is welcome. We've got a new teacher for the class this term… Professor Jurgeon went on an archaeological dig."

Hermione frowned. She'd liked Professor Jurgeon. He was quite old, with frizzy white hair and beady little eyes, and wore large classes that were decidedly out of date, but left him looking quite intelligent nonetheless. He was well known for being a fantastic teacher, and Hermione wondered if the new Professor could hold a candle to the man. He was why she'd chosen this class in the first place, and now he wouldn't even be teaching it. "So who's the new Professor?" she inquired.

"Some lady they hired as a temp for the summer," Emma shrugged. "Mc-something or other."

At that particular moment, the new Professor walked into the room, eyeing the room full of students sternly. She wore black slacks and a white oxford, with a red and gold scarf around her neck. Her hair was long and dark, tied in a braid down her back. Her green eyes met Hermione's brown ones, and both of them smiled brightly. "Professor McGonagall!" Hermione yelped happily.

She'd not seen her Transfiguration Professor since graduation a year after the war ended, and that had been three years ago now. She was, of course, now Headmistress at Hogwarts, so it begged to question what on earth she was doing, teaching at a Muggle University.

"Well, well," the Scottish woman said, still smiling. "If it isn't Hermione Granger."

"You know her?" Emma whispered.

"Yes," Hermione whispered back. "She was my Professor at the boarding school I went to. She's Headmistress now – I haven't seen her since I graduated. I was always very fond of her."

Emma smirked. "You look a bit more than fond. Did little Miss Bookworm have a crush on her teacher?"

Hermione cursed herself for ever telling Emma she was a lesbian. Yes, she'd had a crush on Minerva McGonagall, but that's all it was. A crush. Nothing to think much on, and certainly nothing that would ever become more. "Maybe," she hissed.

"I don't blame you," Emma grinned. "She's bloody hot, and god, that accent is divine!"

"Enough chatter!" Minerva snapped. "I don't know what sort of teacher Professor Jurgeon was, but I for one have a few rules. One; you will not speak while I am speaking. Two; homework assignments are an expectation, not a suggestion. Three; I have a grey tabby cat, and if you see her wandering around the campus, I shall thank you to leave her alone. Break any of those rules and I will make your lives more difficult. Follow them, and we shall get along just fine."

Hermione had to stifle a giggle over the third rule. Class began, and Hermione forgot all about her disappointment regarding the loss of Professor Jurgeon. Minerva, just like always, knew what she was talking about. An hour later, Minerva was writing the homework assignment on the blackboard, and class was dismissed. Emma grinned suggestively at Hermione, pushing her friend toward the front of the classroom, rather than pulling her toward the exit at the back where all the other students were going.

"I'll go say hi because I know her and it's polite," Hermione ground out. "It doesn't _mean_ anything."

"If you say so," Emma laughed. "Though if you don't get on jumping her bones, I bloody well will!"

"You'll do nothing of the sort!" Hermione snapped.

"Right," Emma said, looking doubtful, and yet very amused.

Hermione groaned, and as the final students, Emma included, walked out the door, she made her way down the steps toward the front of the classroom, stopping when she'd arrived there and watching as the Scottish woman finished gathering up her papers. "So you don't want manhandled, then?" she asked.

Minerva turned, and smiled at her, mischievous glint in her eyes. "Not while in that form, anyway."

The younger woman's jaw fell open. Was Minerva… did she just… "Was that a pass?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"I've never made a secret of my sexual preferences, even if you and your peers lived in denial of the fact," Minerva stated. "And as you are no longer a child in my care, I shall not play coy with you. Was it a pass? Not intentionally – merely a generalization that was not directed toward you in particular. That said, if you wanted it to have been, then I suppose that would need… addressed."

"You're different than I remember," Hermione whispered, her former crush roaring to life with more intensity than ever before.

"Before, I was a teacher and you were my student. I was an adult, and you were a child. Now, we are merely two adults."

"Technically I am your student once again, though I can't say that surprise was a bad one," Hermione teased.

"Only until Professor Jurgeon returns," Minerva said pointedly. "And besides, this situation is vastly different than the one in Scotland. Honestly, had we not been all recovering from the war, I imagine you and I would have gotten to be friends during your final year at Hogwarts. That said, we were all a bit wrapped up in our own grief that year."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "So, not a pass at me then?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Not as such," Minerva replied, "though that doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested if you were."

"Who said I was?"

"Nobody!" the older woman groaned. "Good gracious woman, you are making this decidedly more complicated than necessary. Let's try this – Hello, my name is Minerva. I think you are a beautiful woman, and you're quite obviously very smart as well. Would you like to go to the tea shop with me, so see if perhaps we have things in common outside of this environment?"

Hermione was reeling, but she decided it was in a good way. "I'd like that," she uttered. "Are you free now, or should we schedule something for later?"

Minerva smiled. "At risk of sounding too cliché, I'd clear my schedule for you any day of the week. Bugger Hogwarts!"

The younger woman grinned. "Well, let's go then," she said, linking her arm with the woman she was now very interested in getting to know better.

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	2. Chapter 2

**I have no real idea where this is going, though I do have a few scenes in mind now that I've had some time to think on it. These updates will be short, and they will come when they come. I do hope you enjoy reading as this story evolves.**

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Minerva smiled brightly as she listened to Hermione's tale about why exactly she was getting a muggle degree. While the tale itself was not particularly riveting, the older woman had always loved to watch how ever expressive her younger companion's face could get, particularly when she was irritated.

"So I tried to explain them how absolutely swamped I was with the Potions Master work, and how I couldn't possibly take on a muggle degree at the same time, and you know what my mother asked me?" Hermione said, obviously exasperated by the very remembrance.

"Do tell," Minerva urged, still grinning.

"She asked if I might get a time turner to help me do both!" Hermione finished. "Can you believe that?"

Minerva laughed outright. "It was hard enough to get it for you the first time," she said. "Though if you and your friends hadn't managed to destroy most of them during your fifth year, that past experience might have actually made your mum's idea plausible."

"Not helping, Minerva!"

"Who said I was trying to help?" the older witch asked, grinning lazily. Tea with Hermione after class on Mondays and Thursdays had become a given, and the comfort between them was growing week by week. It had taken Hermione a bit of time to loosen up around her former Professor and mentor, and as Minerva had hoped, that time had allowed her to decide if she'd merely pursue friendship with the younger witch now that they'd reconnected, or if she's pursue something more.

"Well, I should probably get going," Hermione mused after a quiet moment. "I swear, our teas go later and later each time. I'll be dead on my feet at the Ministry tomorrow."

Minerva stood, following her companion's example. "I don't know why you insist on working on top of pushing through two degree programs. You can't have much leisure time at all with the way you're going."

"I have enough free time to join you for tea two nights a week," Hermione said pointedly.

"And how many Owls have you gotten from Ginny Potter about how neglected she's been feeling?" Minerva asked.

Hermione chuckled. "You're better company. Also, I'm fairly sure Harry would be upset if I was ogling his wife."

Minerva stopped short at that comment. It was the first time Hermione had said something blatantly flirtatious to her since they'd reconnected. It was what she'd been waiting for; her own interest in Hermione had been ignited two weeks in, but she hadn't wanted to push if Hermione was not receptive. "Hermione Granger," she said in her clipped tone, though teasing in nature. "Was that a pass?"

The younger witch smiled coyly. "If you want it to be, then I expect you to take me out on an actual date in the near future. These teas have been lovely, but I'm a hopeless romantic and there is something entirely… _intoxicating_ about the thought of being wooed by the Headmistress of Hogwarts."

Minerva and Hermione had nearly walked all the way back to where their automobiles were parked by now, and they were relatively isolated by this late hour. She grabbed Hermione by the wrist, and pulled her close. "Is that a fact?" she asked, running her fingers gently along the brunette's sides, causing Hermione to shiver.

"Uhuh…"

Minerva's hands crept upward, thumbs grazing the underside of Hermione's breasts as she titled her lips down to the younger woman's ear. "Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Yes!" Hermione moaned. "Unless you're planning to skip the wooing and go right to seduction…"

"And if I were intent on that?"

"I'd said you're doing a rather good job at it," Hermione muttered, nipping at the underside of Minerva's jaw.

The older woman sighed happily at the contact. "Minx."

"You bloody started it!"

"Hermione," Minerva whispered, pulling away just enough to look her companion in the eye. "I'd like to kiss you."

"At this point," Hermione replied, raising her hand to softly caress Minerva's cheek. "I'd be rather vexed if you didn't."

Minerva leaned in. Hermione leaned in. Lips met softly, careful but curious, reserved but wanting. Before a minute had passed, their tongues began to dance and hands wandered, and continued to do so until Minerva took Hermione's wrists, stilling in the movement that had been venturing toward the underside of her by now very disheveled blouse. "Darling, we're in the middle of a parking lot. Perhaps we should calm ourselves."

Hermione took a deep breath. "When can I see you again?"

"Tomorrow night?" Minerva asked. "Perhaps I can pick you up at your flat, and then we'll go on a proper date?"

"With actual food involved?"

Minerva laughed. "I'm certain that much will be part of it. Though if I'm supposed to be wooing you, then I better but more thought into it than just dinner."

"What time should I expect you?"

"Six?"

"Perfect."

Minerva escorted Hermione to her car, and offered one final kiss before closing the drivers' door behind the brunette and making her way to her own car. As the engine to her convertible roared to life, Minerva smiled. She hadn't been this excited about something in a very long time. And to think, she'd been rather irked when the Dean had called in in the favor she owed him to teach this summer course…

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